Imagine that you have prior drug convictions but have led a law-abiding life since that time. Then, either because you were wrongfully accused or because you did slip up again, prosecutors come down on your latest alleged infraction harshly. They offer you an incarceration term of 10 years if you plead guilty. If you choose to go to trial,...
Continue ReadingEarlier this week, we began a discussion about the ways in which law enforcement agencies are engaging in large-scale cellphone data captures of individuals who may or may not be involved in criminal investigations. It is almost impossible to fathom that this conduct is in any way condoned by existing criminal law statutes. According to USA Today and Gannett,...
Continue ReadingAmong clichés about the crime of fraud, the one about selling swamp land in Florida is one of the most enduring examples. It refers, on its face, to a type of real-estate scam in which someone is offered a supposedly can’t-miss investment opportunity. Real-life mortgage fraud is often quite different than this caricatured scenario would suggest. As we discussed...
Continue ReadingOver the past several months, a great deal of public outrage has been voiced over the fact that the federal government regularly spies on the electronic communications of both Americans and foreign citizens. The privacy implications of this story are so vast that they can be difficult to fully contemplate. They are so widespread as to appear almost abstract....
Continue ReadingThe Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution helps to protect Americans against self-incrimination. For example, when a criminal proceeding is initiated, accused persons may invoke their Fifth Amendment rights by refusing to testify at trial if they are concerned that their testimony may in any way help lead to their conviction. The Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination are sacred...
Continue ReadingThe high-profile national advocacy organization Campaign for Youth Justice has singled out Florida’s criminal justice system as choosing to adjudicate more cases involving teen defendants in adult criminal courts than any other state’s justice system. It has deemed Florida’s aggressive approach to be a “clear outlier” among states who charge youths as adults for a variety ofjuvenile offenses. Florida...
Continue ReadingIncreasingly as cities feel the economic crunch of the current financial crisis, they begin turning to raising permits, taxes, and fines. Criminal fines have also risen. When someone is accused of a crime and pleads guilty or no contest or even convicted, they may be assessed criminal fines or have to pay restitution to the alleged victim. These fines...
Continue ReadingA Florida woman has been accused of embezzling $190,000 from her employer. Police state that she was purportedly overpaying herself and also endorsing checks from the office in order “to make personal credit card payments.” She is now charged with felony grand larceny. Though the woman apparently works for a medical office, the specific location of the employer was...
Continue ReadingWhen individuals are accused of committing criminal activity, their attorneys must oftentimes hire experts to refute claims made by the prosecution and to ultimately prove the innocence of the accused. Similarly, when trying to disprove an individual’s criminal defense strategy, prosecutors also must oftentimes hire expert witnesses to support their claims. A telling new study conducted by psychologists from...
Continue ReadingSometimes a single judge ruling in a solitary case can influence other judges all over the nation to follow his or her lead. Recently, criminal defense and criminal justice advocates hoped that a judge in New York would rule in such a way that a domino effect of similar rulings would occur all over the nation. Individuals and groups...
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